The Sustainable Green Printing Partnership has opened the public comment period for the revised Certification Criteria document. Periodically, the SGP Partnership reviews and expands the Criteria document in order to address new sustainability issues and key changes in the graphic communications industry. This revised Criteria document includes an expanded sustainable policy and an enhancement of existing best management practices. It also provides a mechanism to integrate SGP’s Binding, Finishing, and Loose-Leaf Criteria with the existing Printer Criteria into a single certification document. The comment period for the revised Criteria opened on December 21, 2010 and will close on February 4, 2011. A copy of the draft Criteria document may be found at https://www.sgppartnership.org/documents/Press%20Releases_Other/SGP%20Certification%20Criteria_draft_Dec2010.pdf. More information is also available at https://www.sgppartnership.org.

“This revised Criteria document clarifies and strengthens existing certification requirements,” notes Gary Jones, Vice Chair of the Technical Advisory Committee for SGP. “Once the new Certification Criteria is approved, a newly-created guidance document will be made available to all applicants, which provides detailed information as to how to meet the requirements for certification. Both the revised Criteria, as well as the guidance document, were prepared with assistance from certified Printers and others in the graphic communications industry. Their input continues to be invaluable to the success of SGP.”

In 2008, the SGP Partnership introduced the Certification Criteria for Printing Operations. SGP’s Technical Advisory Committee is responsible for criteria improvement, and the committee opted to integrate the Printer Criteria with the newly introduced BFLL Criteria into a single Criteria document. This allows printers with in-house BFLL operations to be certified without the expense of a second audit. Likewise, BFLL businesses that perform printing may receive certification for both operations with a single audit. SGP provides a logo to all organizations that are certified under the Criteria.

Currently, graphic communication facilities located in the United States and Canada are eligible to apply for certification with the SGP Partnership. To become SGP-certified, a facility must demonstrate conformance with Criteria that require a holistic approach to sustainability and must pass an onsite audit. Certified facilities are assigned a certification number and logo for use on their finished products. For additional information about the SGP certification program and a complete listing of SGP Certified Facilities and SGP Applicants, visit www.sgppartnership.org.